Of the Desperate, Desired, and Dauntless
by amessofness
Summary: Just a bunch of random, unconnected drabbles about Ness, that I've come up with - ranging from fluff to angst :)


**Summary: Loosely off this prompt - "Imagine Person A of your OTP liked someone else, but that person didn't't return A's feelings and got married to a different person. Person B, who is is A's best friend at the time, decides to do something to cheer A up after the wedding."**

**Basically, Nick and Winston have a talk on Jess' wedding day.**

* * *

Nick Miller sat on the park bench, head in his hands. He had royally screwed up, he knew that now. He knew he should be there -_ he knows he should be there for her_ - but he can't bring himself to move. The last few months had just passed by so fast that he was able to convince himself it wasn't real. That she wasn't really going to marry another man. And yet, here the day was - she was actually getting married today and Nick, like a fool, was nursing a bottle of Jack Daniels while wallowing in self-pity.

He's afraid that if he moves the world would just shatter around him. So he didn't move, he just took the bottle of Jack Daniels from his side, and started to drink. He felt the cool liquid run down his throat and it burned like holy hell. He scratches at his throat while thinking. _When did my alcohol intolerance get so damn low_, he asked himself, already knowing the answer. Ever since Jess moved in three years ago, he felt, every day, less of an urge to drink.

Today was an exception though.

"Hey Nick," Nick hears Winston's voice nearing him. He almost misses it though, since the screams of children on a playground nearby muffled it. When Nick looked up, the sun shining in his eye - making him squint to find Winston's face, he sees him dressed in a tuxedo looking down at him, obvious pitying spread throughout his features. Nick looked at Winston's attire, to his own - he was wearing a plaid shirt and worn out jeans, and sighed wearily.

"Hey, buddy."

Nick scooted over on the bench, and patted a side beside him for Winston to sit. Winston obliged and sat next to him - he didn't speak for a while, rather just watched Nick. Nick tried to avoid Winston's gaze by staring at the bottle in his hands. He swore he started to see Jess' face in the reflection on the beer bottle._ Pull yourself together man_, Nick thought to himself and slapped himself on his right cheek before turning to face Winston.

"You okay man?" Winston asked, placing his hand on Nick's shoulder. Winston already knew the answer though. He knew his best friend recently had more than strictly friendly feelings for their quirky roommate, and if Winston had to guess, was even in love with her.

Nick chuckled to himself before answering, running his hands through his hair and teasing it's ends, "Would you believe me if I said that I'm really happy she's getting everything she ever wanted."

"Nick c'mon. We both know you love her. You don't have to play with me," Winston's eyes were a mixture of sadness, pity, and sympathy, "Seriously, how are you holding up man?"

Nick's eyes began to water but he willed himself to hold it together in front of his best friend, "I don't even know man. All I know is that I love her… and she loves George," Nick said _George_ with a tinge of disgust but quickly moved on, "But she deserves to be happy. Because Jess is amazing and so worthy of everything she wants… so if it makes her happy, I'll be okay."

Winston nodded, understanding his friend. They both stared out into the distance - the sun was high in the summer sky and a uncomfortably warm breeze blew past the two - and they both started to consider the future._ Jess was getting married_. They both knew she was going to move out after the ceremony and start a new life with her husband, but no one, including Coach and Schmidt, liked the idea. But it was what was going to happen, and they'd have to learn to live with it.

"Does she know how you feel?" Winston finally asked, breaking the awkward silence that had settled between them.

Nick wiggled his tongue in his mouth, considering what he was going to say, "No… but it doesn't matter now, does it?"

Winston contemplated whether or not if he should just leave it at that or not, but he continued, "You should be there man. She wanted to see you, ya know?"

"She did?" Nick asked, genuinely shocked. They had been friends for three years, and at one point, there was definitely a time where they were _almost more than that_, but Nick never really thought that Jess ever really thought they were - good friends, best friends even.

"Of course she does Nick. You, out of all of us, are the closest to her. Of course she wants you there," Winston replied. Nick's back straightened and he leaned back against the bench and let Winston continue to talk, "You should go see her."

Nick didn't speak. He knew if he went to see her now, he would blurt out to her that he loved her. That he didn't want her to go through with the wedding. But that wouldn't be fair to her. They were never a thing and she owed him nothing. He saw no reason to bother her on her wedding days about his feelings he was sure she didn't reciprocate.

"Tomorrow," He said simply, not facing Winston, "Tomorrow I will."

Winston decided not to push the subject and rather asked, "Can I have some of that." Winston pointed to the Jack Daniels, and Nick handed it over graciously, crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head.

Both of them sat in silence. They heard the birds chirping, children frolicking in the park, the sounds of jogger's shoes hitting the pavement. The world around them was moving at an impossibly fast pace. But for Nick, everything was standstill. This happiness he had allowed himself to embrace when he thought he had a real chance with Jess had been effectively destroyed within the last few minutes and he started to finally accept that his world was finally falling apart.

A tear slipped from Nick's eye as church bells rang out throughout the park for everyone to hear in a glorious harmony.


End file.
